Jenny Lower

With its partner-swapping plot twists, high-strung lovers and mind-altering magic flowers, Shakespeare's most popular comedy was meant for the excesses of the disco age. The Troubadour Theater Company's sequined reboot of one of its classic mash-ups embraces the polyester suits and gold chains in this unfailingly energetic romp directed by......

Shakespeare's account of the deformed, devious usurper to England's throne runs the longest of the history plays, coming in just slightly shorter than Hamlet. Zombie Joe's version, Shakespeare's Richard III, edited and directed by Denise Devin, pares the tale to its most salacious bits in a breathlessly plotted, hourlong production......

Stella Valente Wilkins' brashly titled production about the redemptive power of dance sounds both too specific and too vaguely feel-goodish to make an effective premise. But since its debut workshop at last year's Hollywood Fringe festival, the solo show has tightened into a charming narrative fueled by Wilkins' self-deprecating charisma......

The Colony Theatre's latest effort isn't quite there yet: Mark Saltzman's world-premiere musical about the wordsmith half of songwriting duo Rodgers and Hart requires polishing (and a hit would help get the faltering theater back on its feet). But for music lovers and nostalgic theater buffs, this revue directed by......

The rare (or the country's first?) trilingual play -- in English, Spanish and American Sign Language -- draws on playwright Mercedes Floresislas' personal history, which involves another trifecta, this one of woes: As a young woman, Floresislas fought off domestic abuse while scrounging a living as an illegal immigrant and......

Miniature doppelgangers and counter-gender casting are among the novelties offered in this psychosexual drama written and directed by Caitlin Bower, which begins as a critique of cult religions but evolves into something even darker and more complex. Fraying manager Dan (Thaddeus Shafer) employs a motley crew at his faltering puppet......

Dorothy Fortenberry's world premiere, Mommune, spirits us to a not-too-distant future where women get national maternity leave and unfit mothers sidestep prison with sentences at minimum-security re-education centers. Chalk Repertory Company's site-specific approach transforms a contemporary kids learning center into one of these cheery gulags and audience members into "pre-parents,"......

There's a reason Ralph Harris' solo show is returning to L.A. yet again. After earlier incarnations at the Stella Adler in 2008 and 2009 (the former under the title North Philly), this hugely entertaining, autobiographical account of a 40-something ladies' man facing possible fatherhood opens its longest run yet at......